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City archaeologist reveals the hole story in Dorchester
By adamg on Thu, 12/10/2020 - 11:45am
That was no sinkhole, that was a well, Boston city archaeologist Joe Bagley told a press gaggle at Ronan Park this morning, the Dorchester Reporter reports.
Ronan Park was originally part of Mary L. Pierce's estate before the city of Boston acquired the land in 1912, the Reporter adds. Why the well suddenly opened up is another question, but no, it was not a portal for demons from hell or the work of rodents of unusual size.
The city will now fill the 16-foot-deep hole so that nobody falls down it.
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Comments
makes more sense
It was pretty regular in shape to be a natural sink hole. It must have been covered over instead of filled in.
It may have been filled in
2016 and 2020 have been rough on groundwater levels. Given that it would have been filled a century or more ago? No suprise if it dropped through the bottom during dry times.
Nope.
"Bagley said recent heavy rains likely uncovered and pushed loose soil into the well, which had become exposed due to a failed stone or wooden cover. "
It was never filled, just covered, only 6 1/2 feet deep and lined with cobblestones.
Thanks
But didn't somebody measure the hole as being 16 feet deep.
At least there isn't an Oak Island scenario going on here.
The first story had it at 40
Ya, the always truthful Twitter story called it at 40 feet. Which, quite frankly, scared the hell out of me because if it's that deep, how wide is it?
Just what the hell are you standing on? A shelf?
All's well that ends well.
All's well that ends well.
Well, well, well.
Well, well, well.
Who lived at the bottom of the hill?
But you just can't fill it!!
But you just can't fill it!! There's a whole unknown procedure you have to follow! You don't just start filling it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not without determining whether it's a sinkhole
and that determination has now been made.
EDIT: Haha, this is actually covered right there in the article:
FILL being the operative word
FILL being the operative word.
I like the 'taped iPhone' trick.
Sounds like a well-funded operation...
Obtuse is more than just an
Obtuse is more than just an angle.
That sounds exactly the
That sounds exactly the quality of Boston ISD.
Parks Department Actually
But go ahead, let the hate flow on something that happened 108 years ago.
I think in this case
the city has done an excellent job of giving us the hole truth.
Was it even the parks department?
Or did the original landowner fill it in?
In any case, we have had two cycles of drought that substantially impacted groundwater levels in the past 5 years and I would lay odds that this played a role in subsidence of whatever fill was put in there 100+ years ago.
"Improvised"
They could start by getting one of the many cellphone tripod mounts available, which would be a trivial matter to attach to a readily-available telescoping painter's pole without tape. An LED headlight would provide illumination. They're available all over the place, too. I'm sure there are some purpose-built devices available for big bucks, which is what we'll probably wind up paying for.
"Boston city archaeologist"
Yeah, sure. I would like to point out that this is just the kind of position in which Lucifer places his minions.
Notice how we haven't unearthed a city god yet?
Philly must not have had an archeologist.
We don't need a Boston version of Gritty.
Our God watches us from the
Our God watches us from the great blue Hill. Our goddess was decapitated with beacon hill. She rests on the esplanade. Irish Catholic from Roxbury.
Kudos to whoever here
Kudos to whoever here previously suggested that it might be an old well!